Rourkela: The Alumni association of the Sundargarh Government College here has demanded that the premier educational institution be given the tag of ‘Tribal University’. They have said that the college certainly has the infrastructure to get the status. Sources stated here Sunday that Jual Oram, MP Sundargarh and Minister of Tribal Affairs, is positively disposed towards the proposal. The Sundargarh Government College was established in 1958 and since then it has created a niche for itself as one of the premier educational institutes in Odisha.
Apart from people from the districts of Keonjhar, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur, the institution also attracts students from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. With the number of students seeking admission growing rapidly, the government has constructed a boys’ and a girls’ hostel. Currently, there are three residential hostels for boys and girls. As the institution has a large number of tribal students, the Alumni Association has decided to press forward its demand so that the college gets the status of ‘Tribal University’. The college has 158 acres of land of its own and several buildings housing various departments. It has the necessary infrastructure that a university requires like playgrounds, a well-equipped library and modern laboratories. The demand for the ‘Tribal University’ status was first initiated in 2020 when Sundargarh Government College celebrated its diamond jubilee. A proposal on the issue was presented to the Odisha Governor, Prof Ganeshi Lal. Now the Alumni Association has presented the same proposal to Oram, sources stated here Sunday. They added that the status will be granted as Oram is now the Minister of Tribal Affairs.